SM OU JoJo's Bizarre Balance Team, The 1400s Saga

[Blastizard]

Importable

Johnathan (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 156 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Joseph (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Flash Cannon

Jotaro (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast
- Scald

Jolyne (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Soft-Boiled

Josuke (Garchomp) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Fire Blast

Giorno (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Heat Wave
- Roost

As the title says, I'm stuck in the 1400s with this team, breaking into the 1500s a few times but I'm kind of in limbo here and any advice is greatly appreciated. I know Mega-Venusaur isn't technically OU anymore but I'll see how far I can go with him.

Johnathan (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 156 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Fire]

The starter everyone knows and loves. The standard set is bulky enough to wear down things like Zapdos, Tangrowth, and every Tapu but Lele, with HP Fire for Mega Scizor, Mawile, and other steel types that'd otherwise be a problem. I thought about Sleep Powder but I chose HP Fire in the end for imporatant coverage. Comes in on Electric and Poison moves meant for Fini, and Water moves for Heatran. Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb are here for STAB, and Synthesis for coming back into the green when he gets the chance to.

Joseph (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Flash Cannon

Heatran and Venusaur are like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Venusaur can come in on the water moves that it hates, and Heatran takes the Psychic and Flying moves that'll tear Venusaur apart, plus poison moves for Tapu Fini, and a straight-up immunity to Fire. Annoying mons like Clefable, Charizard-Y, Kartana locked into a Choice Move, and Magearna can't do much to him. Magma Storm is there for trapping power, Earth Power for other Heatran, Taunt just for the odd mon that tries to set up on him, and Flash Cannon for a nice STAB move.

Jotaro (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast
- Scald

Usually the first mon to come in if not Garchomp if I predict they'll send in a counter. Tapu Fini completes the Grass-Fire-Water core, taking fighting moves meant for Heatran or Ice moves meant for Garchomp. Defog is for necessary entry hazard removal. Nature's Madness wears down Celesteela, Clefable, and anything trying to get a switch-in on it. Moonblast and Scald are there for some STAB moves, taking down Landorus and Excadrill, and if I need a Sp. Atk drop in a pinch.

Jolyne (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Soft-Boiled

Chansey here has won quite a few battles for me. I chose Soft-Boiled over Wish/Protect just to have Seismic Toss as an attacking move and a direct way of wearing things down. Toxic is for stall, works on Mega-Tyranitar, Gastrodon, and Serperior, while Heal Bell evens him out as a nice cleric. It's very important to keep her away from Knock-off users though.

Josuke (Garchomp) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Fire Blast

Used to be Choice Scarf Garchomp, but I decided to switch that for setup just for extra damage on Charizard and Volcarona. Dragonium Z is a nice surprise for Mega-Medicham users who think they'll set up all over my team, and to guarantee the KO on things like other Garchomp (Outrage doesn't OHKO), Defensive Mew and Mega Sableye, and Landorus if he's not Intimidated. Earthquake is tehre for necessary STAB, and Fire Blast takes out Ferrothorn and Scizor, even though Fire Fang does more to Celesteela.

Giorno (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Used to be LO Zeraora, but I decided to replace him with Zapdos to sacrifice overwhelming offense for staying power and Paralysis. I chose Static over Pressure because it's pretty rare that you have to PP-drain another mon, and gives a nice surprise to U-Turn users. Since I have Defog on Tapu Fini, Zapdos runs HP Ice for Landorus and unboosted Zygarde. Discharge is there for more Paralysis power, wearing down Heatran, Volcarona, and putting a hard stop to Pelipper, Tornadus-T, and Hawluch. Heat Wave takes out Kartana, Tangrowth, and for decent neutral damage on things that resist electric.

THREATS:
Blacephalon:

This little freak is very hard to stop once he gets a boost. Chansey is Calm Mind setup fodder for him, and depending on his Z-Move this team doesn't really have any safe switch-ins for him. Choiced variants aren't too much of a problem however.

To end this I don't think this is the best team out there, but it's definitely not the worst (Don't mind the nicknames btw, I've been watching JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and I just couldn't help it). Here's a few replays to see how it works in action, and I'd love to hear what you guys have to say.

 

[recondite]

Chansey with heal bell is poor optimization, imho I think a scarf wall breaker or a wall that can compliment your sr setter would be more optimal ferro skamory perhaps making chomp a sd variant would assist u

 

[Blastizard]

Chansey with heal bell is poor optimization, imho I think a scarf wall breaker or a wall that can compliment your sr setter would be more optimal ferro skamory perhaps making chomp a sd variant would assist u

You're right about Heal Bell since I have Tapu Fini, I might put Wish on Chansey or replace him with Ferro, what do you recommend when it comes to Scarfed Wallbreakers?

 

[KenCalamba]

Id recommend these changes:
change Heal Bell to Stealth Rock, Dragonium to Scarf, Zapdos to Defensive keep Static though, Fini to Bold and Taunt over Scald, Flash Cannon to Toxic

 

[Indigo Plateau]

Hey Blastizard! Mega Venusaur builds can be some of the most annoying teams to face if built correctly and Mega Venusaur in itself can also be very hard to take down. You have a very interesting build here, but there's definitely some room for improvement.

=========================

Let's start by analyzing some specific threats to your team, which will make suggesting changes later easier:

Standard utility Heatran is your only Steel-type, meaning that Mega Alakazam can come in on it easily (can possibly beat Chansey with CM + Recover w/o mega evolving), while Tapu Lele is a massive threat as Heatran gets worn down rather easily and Psyshock does a ton to Chansey.

Zygarde is also very annoying as your Grass-type in Mega Venusaur doesn't resist Thousand Arrows, which it gets to spam pretty easily and 2HKO the majority of your team.

Similarly, Tyranitar's banded Stone Edge does a ton of damage to everything outside of Garchomp, and it finds some opportunities to come in against the likes of Heatran and Chansey.

Your best answer to Mega Medicham is a Tapu Fini without reliable recovery, meaning HJK will do huge damage whenever Mega Medicham finds a free opportunity to fire it off (it outspeeds half of your team).

=========================

Next, below are the changes that will improve your team:

>

In order to free up a move slot for your Garchomp to wallbreak more effectively, Clefable fits better on your team than Tapu Fini does. Clefable can provide Stealth Rock and Wish support, which is extremely valuable for Mega Venusaur, Heatran, and Garchomp. Clefable also gives you a better soft check due to Softboiled against the likes of Zygarde and Mega Medicham. You do lose out on Defog, but we'll fix this later on.

>

A more offensive change, but Chansey feels a bit out of place on your team. With Wish and Stealth Rock support provided by Clefable, Ash-Greninja provides the team with additional offensive presence and a possible late-game cleaner. Its Water/Dark typing aids your team in dealing with problematic Pokemon instead of solely relying on your defensive walls to absorb all the hits.

Swords Dance > Stealth Rock
Stealth Rock on Clefable frees up a slot on Garchomp, which you can use Swords Dance for. Swords Dance turns Garchomp into a scary wallbreaker, able to threaten a lot of balance builds.

Specially Defensive
A specially defensive Heatran will allow you to take on Psychic-types more efficiently. You can nail Mega Alakazam with Toxic on the switch and also stall Focus Blast out with Protect. Specially defensive Heatran also allows you to take on Tapu Lele more reliably, and paired with Wish, this set can be very annoying for opposing Psychic-types to break.

Defensive Defog
Tapu Fini was replaced, but luckily you can slap Defog on Zapdos and only lose out on one coverage move. This is a pretty straightforward change, so I don't think I need to expand on this one much.

Note that the team is pretty slow with no Choice Scarf user, but it didn’t really feel like a necessity on this team while I tested it.

=========================

(click me!)

Above is the final team after my suggested changes. Overall, I do believe this team has better synergy and is more consistent than your initial version, but there are still some threats to watch out for.

Fat builds in particular can be very hard to wear down, so you'll have to play aggressively around them.

with Steelium Z can be quite annoying as it can OHKO Garchomp, your best Fire-type resist. Lastly,

can get out of hand with hazards, so keep that in mind.

Good luck with the team, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

 

[Blastizard]

Hey Blastizard! Mega Venusaur builds can be some of the most annoying teams to face if built correctly and Mega Venusaur in itself can also be very hard to take down. You have a very interesting build here, but there's definitely some room for improvement.

=========================

Let's start by analyzing some specific threats to your team, which will make suggesting changes later easier:

Standard utility Heatran is your only Steel-type, meaning that Mega Alakazam can come in on it easily (can possibly beat Chansey with CM + Recover w/o mega evolving), while Tapu Lele is a massive threat as Heatran gets worn down rather easily and Psyshock does a ton to Chansey.

Zygarde is also very annoying as your Grass-type in Mega Venusaur doesn't resist Thousand Arrows, which it gets to spam pretty easily and 2HKO the majority of your team.

Similarly, Tyranitar's banded Stone Edge does a ton of damage to everything outside of Garchomp, and it finds some opportunities to come in against the likes of Heatran and Chansey.

Your best answer to Mega Medicham is a Tapu Fini without reliable recovery, meaning HJK will do huge damage whenever Mega Medicham finds a free opportunity to fire it off (it outspeeds half of your team).

=========================

Next, below are the changes that will improve your team:

>

In order to free up a move slot for your Garchomp to wallbreak more effectively, Clefable fits better on your team than Tapu Fini does. Clefable can provide Stealth Rock and Wish support, which is extremely valuable for Mega Venusaur, Heatran, and Garchomp. Clefable also gives you a better soft check due to Softboiled against the likes of Zygarde and Mega Medicham. You do lose out on Defog, but we'll fix this later on.

>

A more offensive change, but Chansey feels a bit out of place on your team. With Wish and Stealth Rock support provided by Clefable, Ash-Greninja provides the team with additional offensive presence and a possible late-game cleaner. Its Water/Dark typing aids your team in dealing with problematic Pokemon instead of solely relying on your defensive walls to absorb all the hits.

Swords Dance > Stealth Rock
Stealth Rock on Clefable frees up a slot on Garchomp, which you can use Swords Dance for. Swords Dance turns Garchomp into a scary wallbreaker, able to threaten a lot of balance builds.

Specially Defensive
A specially defensive Heatran will allow you to take on Psychic-types more efficiently. You can nail Mega Alakazam with Toxic on the switch and also stall Focus Blast out with Protect. Specially defensive Heatran also allows you to take on Tapu Lele more reliably, and paired with Wish, this set can be very annoying for opposing Psychic-types to break.

Defensive Defog
Tapu Fini was replaced, but luckily you can slap Defog on Zapdos and only lose out on one coverage move. This is a pretty straightforward change, so I don't think I need to expand on this one much.

Note that the team is pretty slow with no Choice Scarf user, but it didn’t really feel like a necessity on this team while I tested it.

=========================

(click me!)

Above is the final team after my suggested changes. Overall, I do believe this team has better synergy and is more consistent than your initial version, but there are still some threats to watch out for.

Fat builds in particular can be very hard to wear down, so you'll have to play aggressively around them.

with Steelium Z can be quite annoying as it can OHKO Garchomp, your best Fire-type resist. Lastly,

can get out of hand with hazards, so keep that in mind.

Good luck with the team, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Thanks so much! I'm now finally in the 1500s. I've gotta play this team a little differently from the original version but it works well so far. Also you spelled Lava Plume wrong in the PokePaste which set the formatting off, so I corrected it here.

I thought I'd lose out when it comes to not having Mystic Terrain or Heal Bell, but Clefable does his job pretty nicely now that Zygarde forces out Zapdos. Greninja can't come in on attacks like Chansey did, but he makes up for the lack of screen time in sheer power, and many pokemon can't set up on Greninja like they do on Chansey. One thing I want to ask is why not have Ice Beam on him? I like the changes to Garchomp and Heatran, Garchomp still does his job against the same pokemon and even though Heatran now loses to opposing Heatran, he can stall out threats like Volcarona and Charizard. When it comes to HP Ice -> Defog - Zapdos loses some of the pressure against Gliscor, Landorus, and Zygarde, but Defog is pretty necessary.

All in all I really like the changes you made to my team, I'm gonna have a lot of fun using it.